|
Lester Dent
Born in 1904 in La Plata, Missouri, Lester Dent was a prolific pulp writer, best known under the house
name Kenneth Robeson, under which he wrote most of the immensely popular and
influential Doc Savage novels (originally as 181 issues of Doc Savage
Magazine from 1933 to 1949). His first published story "Pirate Cay" appeared in the
September 1929 issue of Top Notch Magazine. Soon after Dent was
contacted (at $500/month) by Dell Publishing in New York City,if he would write exclusively
for their magazines. In 1932, he was hired at $500/novel by Henry Ralston of Street and Smith
Publications to write Doc Savage, which he continued to do until 1949. Dent did
much personal research for his stories and earned his amateur radio and pilot's licences,
passed the electricians and plumbers' trade exams, and was an avid mountain climber and
boater. He died in La Plata, Missouri in 1959.
Publisher's Web Site: Heliograph Inc.
Biography:
1,
2,
3
Master plot, for any 6000 word pulp story by Lester Dent.
|
|
|
A review by Georges T. Dodds
From the acid-crumbled pages of early depression era pulps comes, count 'em, not one, not two, but five pulp tales of dirigibles
by the creator of the pulp icon Doc Savage. If you're looking for plausibility, subtlety, or deep insights
into the human condition, you've come to the wrong place. This is pulp fiction, action for the sake of action, swell young dames
mostly present to be saved by brawny pistol-in-the-fist heroes, and the usual complement of nefarious and sadistic villains of
various non-Anglo-Saxon ethnicities. The texts obtained from vintage pulps, have been further restored from original
manuscripts. The texts have not been bowdlerized and thus still contain various ethnic slurs, and a depiction of women
that certainly isn't currently PC -- but clearly was in 1930. However, compared to some material from this era, these
stories are fairly inoffensive.
Packed with air pirates, cannibals, Baron Von Richtoffen-inspired enemy Zeppelin captains, and -- of course --
dirigibles, the stories are ultimately quite entertaining, if perhaps without the staying power of Dent's later creation,
or more literate adventure fiction (e.g. Harlod Lamb or Talbot Mundy).
This nicely presented book includes a short introduction to Lester Dent (by Dent authority Will Murray), particularly with
respect to Dent's early pre-Doc Savage pulp writing days, the short popularity of dirigible tales, and the
research which Dent put into his writing (also shown by the inclusion of his notes on airships). The book also includes
original illustrations from the pulps, and Dent's notes as to the publication of the stories.
All in all, Zeppelin Tales is a tasty treat for the vintage pulp aficionado, and a quick entertaining read for the
reader in search of page-turning entertainment.
| Title |
Author |
Original Title |
Original Publication |
| Introduction |
Will Murray |
|
|
| "Zeppelin Bait" |
Lester Dent |
|
Sky Birds, Oct. 1932 |
| "Blackbeard's Spectre" |
Lester Dent |
"The Thirteen Million Dollar Robbery" |
The Popular Magazine, Mar. 1930 |
| "Peril's Domain" |
Lester Dent |
"The Frozen Flight" |
Air Stories, Feb. 1931 |
| "Helene Was A Cannibal" |
Lester Dent |
"Teeth of Revenge" |
Scotland Yard, May 1931 |
| "A Billion Gold!" |
Lester Dent |
"One Billion-Gold!" |
Scotland Yard, June 1931 |
| Manuscript vs. Magazine |
Matthew Goodman |
|
|
| Lester Dent's Airship Notes |
Lester Dent |
|
from manuscript |
| Dent's Publication Notes |
Lester Dent |
|
from manuscript |
| Glossary |
|
|
|
Copyright © 2006 Georges T. Dodds
Georges Dodds is a research scientist in vegetable crop physiology, who for close to 25 years has read and collected close to
2000 titles of predominantly pre-1950 science-fiction and fantasy, both in English and French. He writes columns on early
imaginative literature for WARP, the newsletter/fanzine of the Montreal Science Fiction and
Fantasy Association and maintains a site reflecting his tastes in imaginative literature.
|
